Samuel George Maller

SAMUEL GEORGE MALLER (1948-2025)

I think that at some point early in his life Sam decided that if he had only one life he would fill it with four or five lifetimes. He made a point of never limiting his possibilities or experiences.

Sam spent his early years in Pennsylvania and Long Island where he enjoyed life as a high school basketball star, helping his team break a long term losing streak and setting scoring records at his school.

Off to college, first at Virginia Tech, then SUNY Stony Brook, where he majored in Psychology. After graduation he took some pre-med classes at Brooklyn College while working as a New York cab driver and tutoring autistic children in his spare time. This ended when a friend invited him to Florida where he helped set up the first state public school program for autistic and emotionally disturbed children. While teaching all day he enrolled in classes in industrial chemistry at night, earning an MS degree and heading to Texas to start a new career.

Sam moved to the Houston area where he worked for Shell Oil Co. and met his wife, Jane. Before long he was offered a better job with the Chevron Corporation in the San Francisco area.  He enjoyed life there, but, at age 42, he decided to move on again, He entered medical school at George Washington University receiving a degree in family medicine.  Gradually he shifted his focus to geriatric medicine. He had a wonderful career, dividing his days between the National Lutheran Home and Leisure World, establishing wonderful relationships with his patients.

Sam retired about ten years ago at which point he decided to study art. He took classes in drawing and sculpture, but eventually decided to focus on watercolor painting. He pursued this new interest with the same enthusiasm he had brought to his career, adding this to his many other non-vocational interests such as theater, opera, poetry, hiking,, a bit of cross country skiing and even deer hunting.

Jane, Richard and Kristin, will truly miss his dynamic approach to life. With Sam every day was an adventure with new things to learn and places to explore. A life well lived.

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